KitchenPad

iOS App of the Week The big problem when preparing the Christmas mega-feast is synchronising the timings for all the different dishes. My oven just has a single timer on it, so KitchenPad’s ability to create multiple timers is just what I need.

The app has two main screens: the first provides a neat graphical display of the burners on your stove, and you simply tap on a burner to set up a new timer. The second screen has a display of an oven, with four ‘tray’ slots where you can create timers for different items, such as a turkey, spuds and the veggie nut roast.

Set timers for the hob (left) and timers for the oven (right)

The iPad can display the stove and oven screens alongside each other when it’s in landscape mode, but I actually found it more convenient to just quickly tap timings into my iPhone as I went along.

You can start or pause your timers all at once or individually, and select a different buzzer noise for each timer. The app can also run in the background and pop a notification onto the screen if a timer runs out while you’re playing Angry Birds in the front room.

Set individual timers (left) and get a notification when your grub's done (right)

And it’s not just for Christmas either. You can save your favourite timers for repeated use, so if you like to boil your eggs for exactly three minutes and 35 seconds, you can save that timer for breakfast every morning.

KitchenPad isn’t quite as intuitive as it could be, though. The Favourites list isn’t accessible from the main Stove screen so you have to tap on one of the stove or oven timers in order to reach the Favourites screen.

See it all on the iPad

It would also be useful if you could link timers together – perhaps setting a primary timer for the six-hour turkey roast, which then triggers secondary timers that tell you when to put the roast potatoes and other items into the oven as well.

There are plenty of other kitchen timer apps, of course, including quite a few free ones. However, KitchenPad’s graphical interface works well for me and helps me to visualise all the dishes that are on the go together. And, let’s face it, anything that reduces the stress of Christmas Day with the family is worth 69p. ®

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